Celebrating Water Quality Month – Free the Andro Free Public Meeting Next Month

August is National Water Quality Month and an opportunity to highlight the role that conservation plays in safeguarding water quality at both the local level and beyond! We all depend on access to clean drinking water.

Water quality impacts every facet of life, providing the basis for a healthy ecosystem that supports diversity of plants and wildlife and the essential ingredient in the success of working farms and fisheries that we depend on for food, recreation, and so much more.

Recognizing that water touches all aspects of our lives, it is central in the Land Trust’s mission and our work to protect and maintain water quality by buffering rivers and bays from runoff and pollution, as well as conserving critical habitat and protecting water access. To date, the Land Trust has protected over 158,000 feet of shoreline along the rivers and bays of Brunswick, Topsham, and Bowdoin – that’s over 30 miles! These protected waterways are woven into our lives and livelihoods as part of the landscape, economy, and ways that we interact with our environment through outdoor recreation opportunities such as boating, fishing, and waterfowl hunting.

Interested in learning more about local efforts underway to protect water quality, wildlife, and more?

Learn about Free the Andro, a local nonprofit working to restore abundant and sustainable migratory fish passage at the Brunswick Dam to connect communities, revive fish populations, and broaden economic opportunities in the Androscoggin River watershed. Formed in response to the dam’s federal license renewal process, Free the Andro has been providing opportunities for the public to get engaged and educated about the impacts of the dam on migratory fish passage and the dam’s licensing process, which is up for renewal in 2029.

A free public meeting will be held on September 15, 2026 from 5 – 6:30 PM at Curtis Memorial Library featuring a panel discussion with representatives from the Maine Department of Marine resources, Brookfield Renewable Partners, and FB Environmental to explore possible designs to be considered to restore abundant and sustainable fish passage at the Brunswick Dam.